Pilkington: Rest Sweet Nymphs

Orpheus' Noble Strings (Paraty, 2016)

About

Thomas Hobbs

Tenor

Thomas Hobbs is “one of the most interesting and significant Bach tenors” of his generation, and is in demand with many leading baroque and early music ensembles. He regularly appears throughout Europe and North America as a soloist in key works from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Hobbs works frequently with, among others, Philippe Herreweghe and his acclaimed ensemble Collegium Vocale Gent, and the Netherlands Bach Society.

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Highlights of the 2017/18 season include Haydn Creation with Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Schumann Requiem with Richard Egarr and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Evangelist in Bach St Matthew Passion on tour with the Netherlands Bach Society, and Messiah with the Academy of Ancient Music at the Barbican. He will also sing Bach cantatas with the Milan Symphony Orchestra, Violons du Roy, and the Danish National Symphony, and will travel to Australia to sing Bach Christmas Oratorio with the Choir of London and Australian Chamber Orchestra. Hobbs will return to Israel to sing Bach and Britten with the Israel Camerata, and will sing Handel Alexander’s Feast with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, as well as Bach programes with Gli Angeli Geneve, La Chapelle Harmonique, Dunedin Consort at Wigmore Hall, and with the Milan Symphony Orchestra.

Recent concert performances include Haydn Creation with Israel Camerata in Jerusalem and with the London Philharmonic Orchestra; Bach Cantatas, B Minor Mass, and Easter Oratorio with Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Bach with the Musikpodium Stuttgart, and Monteverdi Vespers with the Academy of Ancient Music. Past highlights include Damon Acis and Galatea with Dunedin Consort, Bach cantatas with De Nederlandse Bachverenigning and Ensemble Pygmalion, Bach Christmas Oratorio with the Tonkünstler-Orchester Niederösterreich, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich and Le Concert Lorrain. He has also sung Evangelist in the Bach St Matthew Passion and St John Passion with the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, Le Concert Lorrain and Ensemble Pygmalion, arias in the Passions with the Academy of Ancient Music, CVG and Ex Cathedra, Bach B minor Mass with CVG, Le Concert Lorrain, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Bach Akademie Stuttgart and the Freiburg Bachchor, Bach Magnificant with De Nederlandse Bachverenigning, Bach Ascension Oratorio with CVG, Bach Christmas Oratorio with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, title role in Handel Joshua with the Akademie für Alte Musik and RIAS Kammerchor, Handel Israel in Egypt with the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, Handel Messiah Le Concert Lorrain, Mozart Requiem with Dunedin Consort and Beethoven Mass in C with Stuttgart Kammerchor. Hobbs has also appeared with the Northern Sinfonia, City of Birmingham Symphony, Royal Scottish National and Bournemouth Symphony orchestras and with renowned period ensemble Accademia Bizantina under Ottavio Dantone.

Hobbs’s operatic roles include a critically acclaimed Telemachus The Return of Ulysses in a new production for English National Opera conducted by Jonathan Cohen, Apollo and Shepherd in Monteverdi’s Orfeo in semi-staged performances with Richard Egarr and the AAM, the title role in Albert Herring and Ferrando Così fan tutte. A keen recitalist, highlights include Brett Dean Winter Songs at the Cheltenham Festival, Vaughan Williams On Wenlock Edge with the Edinburgh Quartet, Schubert Die Schöne Müllerin and Schumann Liederkreis Op.39, a recital of Mozart songs at London’s Kings Place, a recital of English song and German lieder for the Festival Accademia delle Crete Senesi in Tuscany, and, most recently, Wolf songs at the Oxford Lieder Festival and a recital at the Ryedale Festival with Christopher Glynn.

Hobbs’ ever-expanding discography includes Bach B minor Mass with both CVG and Dunedin Consort, Bach Motets, Leipzig cantatas and Christmas Oratorio with CVG, Christmas Oratorio with Dunedin Consort, Handel Acis et Galatea and Esther with Dunedin Consort and Beethoven Mass in C with Stuttgart Kammerchor. His recent recordings of Handel Chandos Anthems with Stephen Layton and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Mozart Requiem with John Butt and the Dunedin Consort have been universally praised, with the latter receiving the 2014 Gramophone Award for best Choral recording.

Born in Exeter, Thomas Hobbs studied at the Royal College of Music under the tutelage of Neil Mackie, where he was awarded the RCM Peter Pears and Mason scholarships, and at the Royal Academy of Music under Ryland Davies, where he held a Kohn Bach Scholarship in addition to a full entrance scholarship. He was also awarded a Susan Chilcott Scholarship, has been made a Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist and was an Associate Artist of the Classical Opera Company. He was also a member of the prestigous Académie at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, where he performed in concert with Louis Langrée and the Camerata Salzburg.

All in all high class vocal solo performances were provided by the tenor Thomas Hobbs and the bass Christian Immler : Hobbs is now one of the most interesting and significant Bach tenors

Klassik Magazine

Hobbs’ work was, by any standard, exceptional. His remarkable diction, beautiful sound, undemonstrative flair for making every word tell, and a marvelously informed style with no affectations were consistently evident. He owned the evening.

Classical Voice America

Excellent soloists reflect their choral sensitivity, never assertive, but fluent, supple and admirably matched with accompanying instruments…Thomas Hobbs’s delight in it is palpable.